FOOTBALL; Jets, Awaiting Word From the League, Say It's Time to Mourn, Not Play

With some players still waiting to learn of the fates of friends and neighbors after Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center, the Jets said today that they did not want to play a game on Sunday. The team is scheduled to play at Oakland, and the National Football League was expected to make an announcement on Thursday about the weekend schedule.

''I don't even understand why we're here today,'' said quarterback Vinny Testaverde, a native of Elmont on Long Island. ''I think all the games should be canceled this week. I'm still waiting on calls I know I'll get that people were in the building. You want to be mourning those people. The last thing you want to do is get on a plane to California when you know that all the hijacked planes were going to California. My suggestion is if they're going to play is the only people who have a say-so are owners who have to travel and if so, they have to travel with their team.''

Center Kevin Mawae, the Jets' representative to the players' union, said he spoke to the union chief, Gene Upshaw, in the morning and told him that the Jets did not want to play. Upshaw told Mawae that the Jets were not the first team he had heard from, and that all the other teams he had spoken to felt the same way. Upshaw has been in contact with Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to convey the feelings of the players.

Several players were immediately affected by the disaster. Like many people, Testaverde said he had friends and relatives who were waiting to hear from those they thought were at the trade center Tuesday morning.

Boomer Esiason, a former Jets quarterback, has a charitable foundation that had headquarters on the 101st floor of 1 World Trade Center, the first building to collapse. None of the five employees were in the office. One player, Windrell Hayes, was excused today because he could not get back from Buffalo, where he went to pick up his wife. Wayne Chrebet arrived about 30 minutes late for practice because of bridge and tunnel delays.

But the vast majority of players were at practice today. Many of them were also here on Tuesday when they first heard of the attacks. Coach Herman Edwards said coaches, who were studying films, were continually checking televisions for updates.

Safety Nick Ferguson said players left film sessions to congregate in the players' lounge to watch television. Mawae said that by today it was obvious to everyone that the players shared the sentiment that the games should be postponed. Players, who fly charter flights to games, expressed fears about the safety of air travel in the wake of the four hijackings Tuesday.

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''It's hard to say we should be playing,'' Mawae said. ''People in this locker room have neighbors missing. Our children's friends don't have moms and dads anymore. It's hard to concentrate on football. It's probably the least important thing in the world now. Sitting in a stadium with 65,000 people -- you're sitting ducks. I don't want to leave my wife and kids. What if one of the planes went off course and landed in Garden City? Those things run through your mind.''

Edwards spoke to the team about the disaster this morning and, although he would not say what his preference was, it was clear his heart was not in preparing for a game. He told players that he understood that they would be distracted during today's practice and told them that, if they wanted to talk, he was available. Edwards said the team had hoped to have a blood drive, but team doctors advised that players should not donate blood so soon before a game. Instead, the Jets will probably make a charitable donation.

''It hits close to home because it's here,'' Edwards said. ''It's different if you're in Green Bay or Arizona. It's different when it's 35 miles away. You leave Sunday night and go through the Holland Tunnel and you see the World Trade Center and Tuesday, it's gone. It's more real when you see it and you've driven by it and you try to figure out how could something like this happen. I told players it's tough, but we've got to do it. It's no tougher than people looking for their loved ones. Those people were just going to work. Just going to work and getting back on the train to come home. They're not coming home.''

It was a thought that haunted the Jets as they wrestled with the circumstances of the day.

''I don't know what the rest of the country feels,'' Testaverde said. ''It's closer to this building than a lot of guys realize. I don't have words to describe how I really feel. A lot of things we thought were important yesterday morning don't seem important today. As the days unfold, I know I'm going to hear more bad news.''

In player developments, the Jets plan to use Tom Brandt, their new defensive tackle, at nose tackle, moving Steve Martin to the other defensive tackle spot and pushing Shaun Ellis to defensive end.